Investment funds enabling a bond laddering strategy

ABSTRACT

An open-ended fund, such as an ETF, holds fixed-income securities and has a liquidation date. An order management system receives buy orders from a plurality of investors for purchasing shares of the fund receives and sell orders from a plurality of investors for selling shares of the fund. A fund management information system determines a yield for each investor based on the shares of the fund purchased by the investor and the fixed-income securities held by the fund at the time that the shares were purchased. The fund management information system also determines a plurality of distribution payments and a final liquidation payment for each investor so that the distribution payments and the final liquidation payment provide the yield determined for the investor when the investor purchased shares of the fund. This enables investors to use the fund in a bond laddering strategy.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/865,608, filed Apr. 18, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 12/965,788, filed Dec. 10, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No.8,438,100, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/285,306, filed Dec. 10, 2009, each of which is incorporated byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates generally to financial services and products, andmore particularly to financial systems that enable an investor to createbond laddering strategies, and other strategies that typically involveindividual fixed-income securities, through a series of open-ended funds(such as exchange traded funds or mutual funds) that hold fixed-incomesecurities.

Bond laddering is an investment technique in which an investor purchasesmultiple bonds (or other types of fixed-income securities) havingdifferent maturity dates. As an example, the total investment is dividedequally among several maturity dates that are spread at regularintervals over a period of time (e.g., every year for a period of tenyears). In this way, the bonds associated with each particular maturitydate are a “rung” of the total investment “ladder.” Bond laddering has anumber of benefits for investors. For example, an investor may avoidcapital losses (or gains) due to fluctuations in interest rates bysimply holding onto the bonds until the maturity dates arrive, at whichtime the investor can purchase a new rung for the bond ladder. By havinga series of investments that mature over regular intervals, a bondladder provides more stability around yields and periodic liquidity forthe investor.

A bond laddering strategy may also minimize risks to the investor. Forexample, in an environment where interest rates are increasing, a bondladder prevents the investor from being stuck with a low interest ratefor a long time, thereby allowing the investor to benefit from thereturns associated with increasing rates. On the other hand, wheninterest rates are decreasing, the division of the investment acrossseveral rungs of the bond ladder means that only one portion of thetotal bond investment (i.e., one rung of the ladder) will mature at anygiven time. Accordingly, if interest rates are relatively low but theinvestor desires to repurchase more bonds when a rung matures, only afraction of the total portfolio will consistent of the bonds at thelower-yielding rate. As one can appreciate, by spreading out thematurity dates of the fixed-income securities over time, the ladderstructure smoothes the risks associated with investing in fixed-incomesecurities in an environment where interest rates can fluctuate.

Investors commonly invest in different types of funds to gain exposureto various types of securities, including bonds and other fixed-incomesecurities. A very popular type of fund is an exchange-traded fund, orETF. Shares of an ETF are securities that represent a legal right ofownership over an underlying portfolio of securities or other assetsheld by the issuing fund. The assets held by an ETF may includeindividual stocks, bonds, cash, commodities, derivatives, or anytradable asset, including contracts based on the value of any of theforegoing. Shares of an ETF are designed to be listed on a securitiesexchange and traded over the exchange just like other securities. ETFsthus allow an investor to own a set or “basket” of assets by simplypurchasing shares in the individual ETF. Many existing ETFs hold a mixof assets that aim to replicate or otherwise match the characteristicsof a particular published index. These ETFs allow investors to haveexposure to the index by purchasing shares of the single ETF. Because oftheir low cost and tax advantages, ETFs have grown in popularity inrecent years.

A typical ETF resembles an index mutual fund in that an ETF generallyholds a basket of securities designed to replicate the returns of asecurities index and is required to permit daily redemptions at thecurrent value of its holdings (also known as “Net Asset Value”). Butunlike mutual funds, ETF shares trade on an exchange throughout thetrading day, and most investors buy and sell shares on the exchangerather than direct purchases and redemptions from the fund itself (as isthe case with mutual funds). Unlike mutual funds, most transactions inETF shares are conducted in the secondary market (i.e., on an exchange)and do not involve the movement of assets in or out of the fund. In thecase of transactions in creation units that do involve the movement ofassets into or out of the fund, the transactions are routinely effectedby giving the redeeming shareholder their pro rata share of the fund'sholdings, which does not impose trading costs or adverse taxconsequences on the remaining shareholders.

Although there are many ETFs that hold bonds, existing ETF products areperpetual in nature and therefore do not enable investors to implementstrategies that rely on a maturity structure such as bond laddering.Other types of funds that may hold bonds (including open-ended funds,such as mutual funds) similarly do not enable an effective bondladdering strategy. Aside from the lack of a liquidation date, thislimitation is, at least in part, due to the open-ended nature of thesefunds. A bond laddering strategy typically relies on the ability to buyand hold a fixed-income security until its maturity date, thus allowingan investor to lock in a specific yield for each rung of the bondladder. But with traditional open-ended funds like ETFs, there is noliquidation date and no limitation on investors' ability to enter orleave the fund, which may require the fund to buy or sell the underlyingbonds when investors buy or sell shares of the fund. The lack of aliquidation date coupled with the buying and selling of the underlyingbonds while interest rates are changing may result in a net change ofthe yield of the underlying funds and result in uncertainty forinvestors around the value of their investment at liquidation. Theseattributes have prevented traditional open-ended funds from creating aconstant yield experience for each investor in the fund. As such,existing open-ended funds are unacceptable for strategies which relyupon a liquidation date and expected yield such as bond laddering.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a fund managementinformation system 110 that solves these problems by offering andmanaging open-ended funds (such as ETFs) that have properties allowingthe funds to be used by investors to create and pursue otherapplications typically associated with individual fixed incomesecurities such as bond laddering strategies.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the invention described herein relate to a set of ETFsthat possess liquidation dates (i.e., the funds de-list, liquidate anddistribute proceeds to investors of record on or about a pre-specifieddate). However, these techniques and fund management information system110 s may be used to manage and offer other types of funds, such asmutual funds, which invest in fixed-income securities and can bepurchased by investors to give the investors exposure to thosefixed-income securities. Moreover, various types of bonds (e.g.,corporate or municipal bonds) may be used as the underlying investment,and instead of bonds the funds may invest in different types offixed-income securities or other investments having properties similarto fixed-income securities. Accordingly, the example embodimentsdescribed herein of an ETF that holds bonds is provided for illustrationand not to limit the scope of the inventive concepts.

In one embodiment, to enable a bond laddering investment strategy usingETFs, a fund manager offers a family of ETFs. Each ETF in the familyinvests in bonds that mature on or about the same maturity date, and thematurity dates of the underlying bonds associated with each ETF arespread over time, preferably evenly. For example, in 2010, a fundmanager may offer ten ETFs, one for each year starting from 2011 andgoing until 2020. Since the underlying bonds for a particular ETF matureat approximately the same time, each ETF can be invested in as a rung ofthe bond ladder, and investors are free to invest in the rungs as theysee fit. After all bonds in the ETF have matured, the ETF closes andliquidation proceeds are distributed out to investors.

Because investors may enter or leave the ETFs by buying or sellingshares, shares of the ETF may be created or redeemed (to accommodate thebuying or selling) in a market where interest rates may be changing. Afund management information system 110 is provided to monitor and managethe end-date ETF structure. In particular, the fund managementinformation system 110 tracks the distributions, cash flows, and NAV ofeach ETF over time and also provides projections of futuredistributions, cash flows and final end date value based upon certainassumptions. If desired, the fund management information system 110could balance the cash flows from the underlying bond holdings with theinterim monthly and final end date distribution of the ETF in order toprovide a specific cash flow profile. As a consequence of the end-datestructure, each investor in the ETF should (approximately) realize theyield that existed when the investor entered the fund, which enables theETF to be used as a rung in a bond laddering investment strategy. Avariety of cash flow profiles could result in similar yield profiles ona pre-tax basis. The fund management information system 110 allows forthe evaluation of these cash flow profiles.

In one embodiment, each ETF holds substantially all bonds having thesame maturity date. However, the ETFs may hold bonds that expire ondifferent but generally about the same date. Additionally, the ETFs mayalso hold relatively small portions of their assets in other items, suchas cash or securities other than bonds with the same maturity date.These additional assets may be necessary for management of the ETFs,such as for holdings between creation or redemption transactions or fordistribution payment or efficiency reasons.

In another embodiment, each ETF may hold a range of bonds with differentmaturity dates. Such an ETF may represent a pre-packaged bond ladder,delivering to an investor multiple ladder “rungs” within a single ETF.The ETF may also obtain its bond exposure either by purchasingindividual fixed income securities or by buying specific ETFs thatrepresent specific ladder rungs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a fund management information system 110for implementing one or more ETFs for a bond laddering strategy, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a process for creating an ETF in a primary market andtrading shares of the ETF in a secondary market, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

The figures depict various embodiments of the present invention forpurposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readilyrecognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments ofthe structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed withoutdeparting from the principles of the invention described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION System for Administering Funds for Bond Laddering

FIG. 1 illustrates a fund management information system 110 forimplementing one or more ETFs for a bond laddering strategy. Asillustrated, a portfolio management platform 100 communicates with anorder management system 120 to receive and confirm orders from investorsfor the creation or redemption of shares of one or more of the family ofETFs that provides the rungs of the bond ladder.

The fund management information system 110 allows for the assessment ofthe impact of ETF creations and redemptions on a portfolio, and theevaluation of the impact of trade orders to facilitate portfoliorebalancing. The system 110 also projects future ETF distributionpayments and end date liquidation value and allows for the analysis ofthe tradeoff between the two. This includes scenario analysis involvingpotential future interest rate and fund growth scenarios. Anothercomponent of the portfolio management platform 100 is a risk assessmentsystem 130 that calculates risk information about the underlying bondsor other fixed-income securities that are held by the ETFs or that afund manager may consider purchasing to be held by one of the ETFs. Riskcharacteristics calculated and analyzed include interest rate risk(duration), yield, and credit quality. These risk characteristics areused by the fund management information system 110 in its calculations.

The portfolio management platform 100 also communicates with one or morebond trading systems 140 to purchase or sell the underlying bonds forthe ETFs. In one embodiment, the fund management information system 110informs the creation of trade orders which are routed through theportfolio management platform 100 out to a bond trading system 140.Executions are routed back into the portfolio management platform 100 tofacilitate trade confirmation, accounting, and the re-calculation of ETFportfolio risk. Portfolio trades can be affected through an electronictrading platform or through verbal orders as is common in over thecounter markets.

Management of Each Fund “Rung”

To provide a set of ETFs that can be used for creating a bond ladder, inone embodiment, a fund manager offers a series of ETFs, where each ETFholds bonds having a particular maturity date or range of maturitydates. This section describes how a particular one of the ETFs in thefamily are managed during the life of the ETF, which serves as a rung ofthe bond ladder. In general, a liquidation date for the ETF is selected,and the fund manager ensures that the ETF holds substantially only bondsthat expire on our around that liquidation date.

Periodically (generally daily) the order management system 120 publishesa list of securities that will be accepted into the ETF in exchange forthe creation of new ETF shares. One decision that is informed by thefund management information system 110 is what securities to accept viain-kind transfer. In some instances, where there is equal demand andsupply in a secondary market, the ETF shares may be traded there, inwhich case no creation or redemption would occur. However, when there ismore demand for the ETF shares new ETF shares may need to be created. Aspart of this process, the fund management information system 110 mayassist in determining which bond securities will be accepted by the ETF.As described, the bonds should generally have the same maturity dates asthe other underlying bonds in the fund, and they should generally matchthe risk profile that has been established for the fund. The total valueof the securities and cash taken into the fund via in-kind will equalthe value of new shares issued to investors.

Conversely, when existing investors in the fund wish to sell theirshares, this may occur on the secondary market or via the ETF redemptionprocess. When an ETF redeems shares, the fund management informationsystem 110 may assist in selecting which of the underlying basket ofbonds or other fixed-income securities will be delivered out in-kind.This decision may be based on various questions of trading liquidity,for example, to ensure that both those bond positions redeemed out andthose bond positions that remain in the fund are tradable in thesecondary market. In addition, the nature of the bonds held by the ETFmay affect tax consequences, e.g., if the ETF holds municipal bonds.

It should be noted that although the purchasing and selling of shares ofthe ETF are referred to as new or existing investors, the fund isagnostic as to the identity of the investors. The fund managementinformation system 110 tracks a particular creation or redemption, andtreats each instance of a creation or redemption as a separate investor,regardless of whether the same individual or entity was involved in thetransaction.

The underlying bonds of the ETF may provide both distribution paymentsand a final maturity payment, but in other embodiments either of thedistribution or maturity payments may be zero, depending on the natureof the bond. As the underlying bonds owned by the ETF provide paymentsto the fund, the fund manager distributes these payments to theinvestors who own shares of the fund. Based upon the legal and taxstructure of the fund an investor may receive a pass through of actualpayments made by the bonds in the portfolio, a distribution of earnedincome from the portfolio, or some other variation. Based upon thedynamics of the fund (e.g., changes in portfolio holdings,creation/redemption activity, changes in interest rates, etc.), the fundmanagement information system 110 projects the balance of monthlydistributions and final liquidation value payment. The yield for eachinvestor approximately corresponds to a yield that was expected when theinvestor purchased the fund, so the yield attained may be (and typicallyis) different for different investors.

The fund management information system 110 can employ a number ofdifferent strategies for balancing or allocating the monthlydistributions and final liquidation payment. It can also be appreciatedthat the fund management information system 110 would determine thisbalancing iteratively, responsive to real world changes in investorflows and in interest rates. For example, the fund managementinformation system 110 may determine an expected distribution andliquidation payment schedule, but this may change as interest rateschange and investors create and/or redeem shares of the ETF.Accordingly, the balance of the distribution payments and liquidationpayments may be dynamic, but the realized yield for each investor shouldbe largely maintained.

In one embodiment, the fund management information system 110 adjuststhe distribution payments to glide into a desired liquidation payment,which in one embodiment is equal to the par value of the underlyingbonds. This strategy may potentially reduce capital gains or losses,which may or may not be considered desirable in a bond ladder strategy.However, the fund management information system 110 may also take intoaccount the tax consequences that may arise from the increaseddistribution payments that are necessary to reduce the ultimateliquidation payment.

In another strategy, the fund management information system 110 may useall or a portion of the distribution payments to purchase additionalbonds, thereby increasing the liquidation payment. Conversely, the fundmanagement information system 110 may sell existing bonds held by thefund in order to increase the distribution payments relative to theliquidation payment. These strategies may result in various combinationsof income and capital gains and losses and the attendant taxconsequences, which may or may not be desirable to the investors.

Overview of Typical ETF Creation, Redemption, and Trading on a SecondaryMarket

The shares of an ETF are generally made available to investors 102through a two-tiered market structure, which includes a primary market110 and a secondary market 104. FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified creationprocess for an ETF (or “fund”), in the primary market 110 in accordancewith one embodiment. In the primary market 110, issuance of new sharesof the ETF can be created only in multiples of a minimum block of shares(“creation units”). Because of the large size of the minimum creationunits required for purchases of new ETF shares, these shares aregenerally only available in the primary market 110 to certaininstitutional investors known as authorized participants 106. Authorizedparticipants 106 are typically large institutional broker dealers ormarket makers that transact directly with an ETF for purchases ofcreation units of the ETF shares at the end of day net asset value(“NAV”) for the ETF.

As shown, the consideration for purchase of a creation unit of an ETFgenerally consists of a deposit of a basket of securities via an in-kindexchange of those securities and a deposit of cash to make up anydifference between the value of the deposit securities delivered intothe ETF and the value of the shares of the ETF (or NAV) issued by a fundadvisor 108 to the authorized participant 106. In certain limitedcircumstances, cash may also be delivered in lieu of all or a portion ofthe specified basket of securities if the securities are not availablein sufficient quantity or otherwise cannot be delivered or in certainother situations. The deposit securities are obtained and delivered bythe authorized participant 106 to the fund, which are then added to thefund's holdings. The particular mix of securities to be deposited by theauthorized participant 106 in exchange for the creation units arespecified by a “basket,” which is published by the fund advisor 108 eachbusiness day in a portfolio composition file (PCF).

The opposite process occurs for a redemption of the ETF. In oneembodiment, an authorized participant 106 can redeem shares of an ETF bydelivering a block of the ETF shares (e.g., the same size block as in acreation unit) to the fund. In exchange, the fund delivers via anin-kind transfer the deposit securities specified in the publishedbasket (e.g., in the PCF) associated with the ETF. In both the creationand redemption processes, a cash component is delivered in eitherdirection to offset any differences between the actual value of thedeposit securities and that of the ETF shares exchanged. As statedearlier, in certain limited circumstances, cash may also be delivered inlieu of all or a portion of the specified basket of securities if thesecurities are not available in sufficient quantity or otherwise cannotbe delivered or in certain other situations.

In contrast to the primary market 110, in which authorized participants106 may transact for the creation or redemption of creation size unitsof an ETF, individual investors 102 can access ETF shares in thesecondary market 104. Once the block of ETF shares in the creation sizeunits is received by the authorized participant 106, the shares may bebroken down into less than creation unit sizes (including individualshares) and sold by the authorized participant 106 directly to customersor over a secondary market 104, where individual investors 102 may buyand sell shares of the ETF through their brokerage accounts. Anintermediary, such as a broker/dealer or financial advisor, may adviseinvestors 102 directly and recommend and sell the ETF shares.

The process flow and systems for trading ETFs are described in moredetail in U.S. application Ser. No. 12/168,036, filed Jul. 3, 2008, andin U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/142,609, filed Jan. 5, 2009, eachof which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

SUMMARY

The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has beenpresented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed.Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the abovedisclosure.

Some portions of this description describe the embodiments of theinvention in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations ofoperations on information. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are commonly used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to convey the substance of their work effectively toothers skilled in the art. These operations, while describedfunctionally, computationally, or logically, are understood to beimplemented by computer programs or equivalent electrical circuits,microcode, or the like. Furthermore, it has also proven convenient attimes, to refer to these arrangements of operations as modules, withoutloss of generality. The described operations and their associatedmodules may be embodied in software, firmware, hardware, or anycombinations thereof.

Any of the steps, operations, or processes described herein may beperformed or implemented with one or more hardware or software modules,alone or in combination with other devices. In one embodiment, asoftware module is implemented with a computer program productcomprising a computer-readable medium containing computer program code,which can be executed by a computer processor for performing any or allof the steps, operations, or processes described.

Embodiments of the invention may also relate to an apparatus forperforming the operations herein. This apparatus may be speciallyconstructed for the required purposes, and/or it may comprise ageneral-purpose computing device selectively activated or reconfiguredby a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer programmay be stored in a non-transitory, tangible computer readable storagemedium, or any type of media suitable for storing electronicinstructions, which may be coupled to a computer system bus.Furthermore, any computing systems referred to in the specification mayinclude a single processor or may be architectures employing multipleprocessor designs for increased computing capability.

Embodiments of the invention may also relate to a product that isproduced by a computing process described herein. Such a product maycomprise information resulting from a computing process, where theinformation is stored on a non-transitory, tangible computer readablestorage medium and may include any embodiment of a computer programproduct or other data combination described herein.

Finally, the language used in the specification has been principallyselected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not havebeen selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter.It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited notby this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on anapplication based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodimentsof the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, ofthe scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for administering a family ofexchange-traded funds (ETFs) for use in a bond laddering strategy, themethod comprising: establishing a plurality of open-ended ETFs, each ETFof the plurality of ETFs having a different liquidation date, whereinthe liquidation dates of the plurality of ETFs are spread evenly over atime period; for each of the plurality of ETFs: receiving, at an ordermanagement system from one or more authorized participants, one or morecreation orders to create new shares of the ETF, providing the createdshares of the ETF to the one or more authorized participants, the sharesof the ETF tradable on a secondary market, determining, by a fundmanagement information system, a set of distribution payments and afinal liquidation payment for each share of the ETF, paying thedetermined distribution payments to the investors who own shares of theETF at a plurality of the intervals before the liquidation date of theETF, and paying the final liquidation payment to the investors who ownshares of the ETF upon the liquidation date of the ETF; and closing eachof the ETFs based on the liquidation date of the ETF.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: for each of the plurality of ETFs, holdingassets comprising a plurality of fixed-income securities by the ETF. 3.The method of claim 2, wherein one or more of the plurality offixed-income securities held by each ETF are selected to have maturitydates based on the liquidation date of the ETF.
 4. The method of claim2, wherein one or more of the plurality of fixed-income securities heldby each ETF are selected to provide a final liquidation payment on orabout the liquidation date of the ETF.
 5. The method of claim 2, whereinone or more of the plurality of fixed-income securities held by each ETFare selected to track a performance of a published index.
 6. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: for each of the plurality of ETFs,holding a plurality of assets by the ETF, the assets selected by a fundmanager using an active management strategy.
 7. The method of claim 1,further comprising: for each of the plurality of ETFs, holding aplurality of assets by the ETF, the assets comprising derivatives. 8.The method of claim 1, further comprising: for each of the plurality ofETFs, holding a plurality of assets by the ETF, the assets comprisingcash.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of the distributionpayments paid for a particular ETF of the plurality of ETFs are fundedat least in part by proceeds from selling one or more assets held by theETF.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more of the distributionpayments paid for a particular ETF of the plurality of ETFs are fundedat least in part by proceeds from distribution payments received for oneor more assets held by the ETF.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein oneor more of the distribution payments paid for a particular ETF of theplurality of ETFs are zero.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the finalliquidation payment paid for a particular ETF of the plurality of ETFsis funded at least in part by proceeds from selling one or more assetsheld by the ETF.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the finalliquidation payment paid for a particular ETF of the plurality of ETFsis funded at least in part by proceeds from distribution paymentsreceived for one or more assets held by the ETF.
 14. The method of claim1, wherein the final liquidation payment paid for a particular ETF ofthe plurality of ETFs is zero.
 15. A system for administering anexchange-traded funds (ETF) for use in a bond laddering strategy, thesystem comprising: a computing system configured to access one or moreaccounts that hold a plurality of assets by each of a plurality ofopen-ended ETFs, each ETF of the plurality of ETFs having a differentliquidation date, wherein the liquidation dates of the plurality of ETFsare spread evenly over a time period; an order management systemcomprising a processor configured to: receive one or more creationorders to create new shares of the ETF from one or more authorizedparticipants, and provide the created shares of the ETF to the one ormore authorized participants, the shares of the ETF tradable on asecondary market; and a fund management information system comprising aprocessor configured to: determining a set of distribution payments anda final liquidation payment for each share of the ETF, initiate paymentof the determined distribution payments to the investors who own sharesof the ETF at a plurality of the intervals before the liquidation dateof the ETF, and initiate payment of the final liquidation payment to theinvestors who own shares of the ETF upon the liquidation date of theETF.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the one or more accounts holdassets comprising a plurality of fixed-income securities by each ETF.17. The system of claim 16, wherein one or more of the plurality offixed-income securities held by each ETF have maturity dates based onthe liquidation date of the ETF.
 18. The system of claim 16, wherein oneor more of the plurality of fixed-income securities held by each ETFprovide a final liquidation payment on or about the liquidation date ofthe ETF.
 19. The system of claim 15, wherein the one or more accountshold a plurality of derivatives by each ETF.
 20. The system of claim 15,wherein the one or more accounts hold cash by each ETF.
 21. The systemof claim 15, wherein the fund management information system isconfigured to initiate payment of one or more of the distributionpayments paid for a particular ETF of the plurality of ETFs, where thedistribution payment is zero.
 22. The system of claim 15, wherein thefund management information system is configured to initiate payment ofone or more of the final liquidation payments paid for a particular ETFof the plurality of ETFs, where the final liquidation payment is zero.